On Monday the White House aired its gripes over NBC News in a very public way, complaining not just about the way an interview with President Bush was edited but also about the perceived bias of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann.

In their primary coverage on Tuesday, Matthews and Olbermann fought back — with each claiming Bush erred in his speech last week in Israel. Bush referred to suggestions of talking to enemy countries as “appeasement,” and many Democrats saw it as an attack on Barack Obama.

“The fact is they did overstep,” Chris Matthews said, citing the White House’s efforts to deny that they were talking about Obama.

Olbermann, too, called it an “overstep,” because “they pitted Barack Obama against not just John McCain but also George Bush.”

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